Sharing My Story

Since the 1964 Republican Presidential candidate
Barry Goldwater held the most conservative views
I was strongly for him, The media was admantly
against him and I realized that his chances of
winning were slim to none. I was astonished at
some of the anti-Goldwater TV commericals.
The most infamous one was the cute little girl
picking flowers in a field and then an atomic
bomb explodes. The opposition portrayed
Goldwater as a nuclear trigger happy nut.
Goldwater had a very forthright manner
and was very upfront with his views which
endeared him to his supporters but allowed
this enemies to twist his words which they
certainly did.

(Note: I’ve just read Goldwater’s 1979 memoir
called “With No Apologies” that explains his
disappointment, which mirrors my own, with
the direction of the United States and many
U.S. Presidents Democratic and Republican
during my life time.)

Late in the election movie actor Ronald Reagan
gave a brilliant televised talk (later known as
“The Speech”) supporting Goldwater which
momentarily raised hopes that all might not be lost.
I watched the televised election returns in
November 1964 and realized the miracle
wasn’t going to happen. Goldwater was
crushingly defeated.
After the election car bumper stickers began
cropping up saying “27 Million can’t be wrong.”
While I sympathized with the people whose cars
bore those bumper stickers I thought it was
a little pathetic because the vote had been so
overwhelmingly against Goldwater.

Another slogan that was used during the
campaign was “In Your heart You know He’s Right.”
Perhaps that fit more my feelings as a
disappointed 16 year old (oh, I had so wanted
to vote for him —AUH2O>64—I was five years
too young!). I didn’t think what I had heard
and read was wrong it just wasn’t the right
time for someone like Goldwater. Some critics
thought Goldwater was a throwback to a political
Stone Age. Actually he proved to be ahead of his time.

There was a sense in the countrythat the
American people had just gone through the
traumatic lost of a president and another
big change was just to soon. Give the new
guy a chance.